Baffling decision to put Jack Crowley in front of media had him between rock and a hard place

Players who are not going to start a game are generally not put on media duty. That's was not the case earlier this week for Munster's Jack Crowley. 

Munster and Ireland out-half Jack Crowley speaks to the media on Tuesday. Picture: ©INPHO/Tom Maher

An odd one, this. Tuesday lunchtime and Jack Crowley is standing with his back to a wall, surrounded by journalists and answering questions for a piece that the IRFU has embargoed until Saturday. Game day. Two days later and the Munster out-half is named on the bench with Andy Farrell handing the No.10 jersey to Sam Prendergast instead.

We don’t need to delve too deeply into the inner mechanics of sports journalism and PR here, but it’s worth explaining that players destined for the bench are rarely put up for interview earlier in the week. That should absolutely never be the case when it’s a player engaged in such a high-profile battle for an iconic jersey.